Improvement in road-scrapers



B. SLUSSE-R.

ROAD-SCRARE'R.

No.183, 223'. Patented on. 10. 1876.

4 WITNESSES; I a? INVENTOB: mafia/4' ma. W

V5 7 f? BY (%%vk%mv z moinm JAMES ROSGOOD B (JO. BOSTON.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMINsLUssER, on SIDNEY, OHIO.

R IMPROVEMENT IN ROAD-SCRAPERSi Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 183,223, dated October 10, 1876; application flled August 8, 1876. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN SLUssER, of Sidney, in the countyof Shelby and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Revolving Earth-Scraper; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description of the same, reference be-.

ing had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section through line as 00, Fig. 3 5 Fig. 3, a plan view. Fig. 4 is afront view.

My invention relates to certain improvements in revolving earth-scrapers designed for general purposes of excavating and moving dirt; and it consists in the particular construction and arrangement of the scraper proper, made of a single sheet of steel, bent so as to secure the best results in lightness of draft and perfection of filling, and provided with runners and an end-board of peculiar arrangement, intended to improve the operation and increase the durability of the device. The-invention also consists in the arrangement of the scraper with respect to its frame, the said scraper being pivoted therein, so as to be held in rigid position by a springcatch and locking devices, or allowed to revolve with a complete revolution to dump the contents, all as hereinafter more fully described. t

In the accompanying drawing, A represents the body of the scraper, which is made of a single plate of steel, cut out into a nearly semicircular form, and bent up at the sides, which form permits the same to be most readily and perfectly filled with the lightest draft, While the thin steel gives the requisite lightness, strength, and ease of out. Upon the bottom of the scraper are arranged two or more rockers or runners, B B, made of steel, or wood faced with steel. Said runners are riveted to the bottom of the scraper in the line of draft, and, being made rounded or curved throughout their entire length, serve also as rockers. These runners or rockers secure important advantages, in that they stiffen the scraper against breakage, diminish the wear on the scraper, and lighten the draft. Being rounded to form rockers, moreover, they enable the operator to rock the scraper, and

thus more readily regulate the depth the scraper is intended to go. The back 0 of the scraper is, by preference, made of wood, and is secured to the scraper inside of its rear edge by means of iron straps D and E. These straps D are securely riveted to the scraper at the bottom, and extend up on each side of the back, and are riveted also to it, while the shorter straps E are riveted to the upturned sides of the scraper, and are riveted to the back in a similar manner, the whole being strengthened and provided with additional security in the shape of a tie-rod, F, extending across from the upturned edges just above the upper edge of the back. The frame in which the scraper, as thus described, is pivoted consists, mainly, of a bar of iron, G, extending to the rear, and bent twice at right angles, so as to form the handle. In this frame the scraper is pivoted at a, while the front ends of said frame project forward, and are secured with 'a loose connection to the bail H, constituting the draft attachment. I are curved bars, attached to the rear sides of the scraper, and projecting upwardly at b, to form grappling-extensions,and projectingrearwardly at c, to form locking-bolts. The first of these extensions, 12, serves, in the revolution of the scraper, when the latter is dumped, to catch into the earth and compel the scraper to make a complete revolution, instead of lying upside down, and thus restore it automatically to a position ready to-be filled again. The other extensions, 0, of the curved bars I form locking-bolts, that co-operate with devices about to be described to hold the scraper in a rigid position during the filling operation. These devices consist of a draw-bar, J, bent and fitted inside of bar G, as shown, so as to be easily drawn back by the operator. This draw-bar is provided with a central stud, d,

that passes through a guide and supportinghole in the frame G, around which stud is arranged a spiral spring, 0, whose function is to press said draw-bar forward. The front ends of this bar pass through keepers or guides f f, attached to the main frame, and, when projected forward by spring 6, serve to form one side of the notch whichcontains the lockingextension 0 c. The other side of the said notch is formed by a spring-seated catch, K,

arranged in guides, and provided with a spring, 9, and a'beveled or inclined head, h.

The operation of the device is as follows: The rear extension or lockiugbolts of the scraper being securely held by the springcatch and draw-bar, and the team attached to the bail, the scraper is drawn for-ward and Y filled, its load being regulated by the operator in the rear through theinstrumentality of the rockers. The scraper is thus "drawn 'to the desired place with the bail swiveling upon. the front pivots, and in front of the center of gravity of the load. In dumping the same,- the draw-bar is retract-ed, and the draftstrain being transferred to the rear pivots a, (which are in the rear of the center of gravity,) the scraper with its load revolves upon said rear pivots to discharge the load, whilethe grappling-arms and "the locking-bolt successively catch in=the earth to complete the revolution, until the lockingbolts strike the inclined headsof the spring'seate'd catch, andcompel the automatic engagement of the same, for the shiftingof the pivots to the front again, 1 ready for the next load. i In definingmoreclea-rly myexactinvention, I would state that I do not claimthe-rockers, broadly, as the same are old when formed upon the bottoms of thevertical sides; butwhen arranged close together, asshown, and at a distance from the sides, they have a special function with the scoop curved in transverse direction, in that they stiffen -it, allow its oscillation from side to side, as-well 1 as in the line of draft, and permit the easy turning of the scraper as upon acentral pivot.

I am awareof the fact, als0, that the arrangement of the draw-bar with a springand a set ot' lockingdevices'is not, broadly, newgand, with respect to these features of my invention, I claim only my particular construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is :1. The combination, with the scraper curved in transverse direction, of the rockers B B,

located in alignment, with the draft upon the convex bottom at a distance from the sides, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of the scraper A, endboard 0, straps DE, and tie-rod F, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with the scraper A, of the bar Gr, attached thereto by means of pivots andlocking devices,and extending forwardo'f the pivots to formconnection with the draft-bail, and extending to the reartof the same to form a handle,substantially as and for the purposeidescribed.

4:. The combination, with the scraper havinga locking-bolt, of the barG, the draw-bar J,'having stud d and spring a, the springseated catch K, and keepers f f, constructed and avranged:substantially as and for the .purposedescribed.

5. The combination, withflthe'scraper A, of the curved bar I, attached to the rear upper portion of the sidesof the same, and-having upwardly-projecting end I), tofonm a grapplingextension, and rearwardly-projecting end 0, to

form a lockin g-bolt, substantially as described.

BENJAMIN SLUSSER. Witnesses:

A. BRADFORD, N. W. MAXWELL. 

